Indicating gauge elements



March 20, 1962 w. J. MARKOVICH 3,025,826

INDICATING GAUGE ELEMENTS Filed March 25, 1959 ,2! M i L z 1lfir IN V EN TOR.

ilnite States This invention relates to position indicating devices, and particularly to a device for indicating the connection of the wires from the spark plugs of an autocycle engine to the terminals of its distributor head.

The present invention pertains to a series of disks hearing wire-locating indicium for a series of engines having four, six, eight or any number of cylinders. The disks are preferably washerlike in shape having apertures for retaining them in unit relation but shiftable relative to each other so that any one may be applied to a distributor head. The disks are provided with arms which are pivoted together at the free ends so that any one of the disks may be pivoted outwardly from the group of disks and placed over the head of the distributor. T-he disks have locating points so that they can be applied to the distributor head in a predetermined manner so as to have the spark plug indicium located directly adjacent to a corresponding terminal of the distributor head. Thus, if the make of engine is known, a particular indicating disk will show the location of the firing sequence. The disk is placed on the distributor head and rotated to be positioned relative to a locating point so that the indications on the disk will lie directly opposite to the terminals and relate them to the spark plugs.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to provide indicating elements for locating the wires from the spark plugs relative to the terminals of the distributor head of an engine; to provide disks with indications which are located adjacent to the terminals of a distributor head corresponding to the firing order of the plugs of an engine; to provide a plurality of disks for eight, six and fourcylinder engines covering the different makes of automotive vehicles for difierent model years; to provide indications for the location of the wires from the spark plugs to terminals of the distributor head; to provide elements for indicating the terminals of a distributor head relative to a corresponding spark plug of an engine which may be applied to the head either inwardly of the terminals or outwardly thereof, and, in general, to provide indicating elements for a distributor head which are simple in construction and economical of manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will be specifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of the invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a distributor head of an engine having an indicating disk applied about the outside of the terminal thereof;

FIG. 2 is a view of the indicating disk of FIG. 1 after it has been opened and removed from the distributor head;

FIG. 3 is a reduced view, in elevation, of a distributor head of an engine, with the indicating disks of FIGS. 1 and 2 applied thereon;

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation of a series of indicating disks retained in unit relation but capable of being individually applied to the distributor head of an engine;

atent FIG. 5 is a view of a series of indicating disks secured together in a manner to permit each disk to be individually applied to the distributor head of an engine; and

FIG. 6 is a view of a set of indicating disks, similar to that illustrated in FIG. 4, showing another form thereof.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a distributor for an automobile engine is illustrated having a cuplike base element 10 mounted on a sleeve 11 and provided with a pair of spring clamping arms 12 mounted on pivots 13 at diametrically opposite points on the element 10. A cap 14 is removably mounted on the element 10, being secured thereon by detents 15 on the upper end of the clamping arms 12 which extend into recesses 16 in the cap for firmly securing the cap on the base element 10. The top of the cap 14 has a plurality of insulated terminals 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 for receiving the ends of eight wires from the eight spark plugs of an eight-cylinder engine. The engine also is of the V-8 type having four cylinders inaline each side of the central plane through the engine block. A disk indicating device 25 has two like semicircular parts 26 and 27 which are secured together by a pivot 28 located diametrically opposite to a pair of extending fingers 29. The pivoting of the two sections 26 and 27 permits the disk to be applied to the outside of the terminals 17 to 24 to which the wires from the spark plugs are attached corresponding to the locating indicium provided thereon. This type of disk permits the checking of the wire location as applied to the distributor head terminals without removing the wires therefrom.

It will be noted that the numbers run from one to four in two series, one of the series being indicated by L, the other series being indicated by R. The L indicates the left-hand row of cylinders and the R indicates the right-hand row of cylinders. The numbers 1 to 4 locate the cylinders in the rows from the front to the rear of the engine. In an eight cylinder inaline engine, the numbers 1 to 8 would be employed since it has been the practice in the art to number the cylinders from the front to the rear when in aligned relation. At the point at which the pivot 28 is located, an extension 31 is provided which is to be placed adjacent to the wall of the engine block so as to properly orient the indicium relative to the respective terminals. It will thus be seen that the terminal 17 would be connected to the spark plug of the third cylinder from the front of the left-hand row of cylinders. The terminal 18 is connected to the spark plug of the third cylinder in the right-hand row of cylinders, and so on for the terminals 19 to 24. The disk 25 is for a Ford automobile, as

will be noted on the extension 31, the particular year or' years and model or models being given on the opposite side of the adjacent extension 31.

In FIG. 6, a further form of the invention is illustrated, that wherein a plurality of disks 35 have apertures 36 therein for permitting a holding element 37, herein illustrated as a length of chain, to secure the plurality of disks together. The disk 35 is for an eight-cylinder engine having eight arcuate concave recesses 38 about the peripheral edge to fit within the terminals 17 to 24 of a distributor head 14. A notch 39 or the aperture 36, or both, may be employed for locating the disk 35 annularly between the terminals, that is to say, for locating each arcuate element 38 adjacent to one of the terminals 17 to 24. For this purpose, the notch 39 or aperture 36, or both, are disposed opposite the pair of flexible locking fingers 12 3 of the head. When so located, the terminals 17 to 24 are oriented relative to the recesses 38' and to the indicium located adjacent to the recess. This marks the conductors from the spark plugs of the cylinders in the left or right head of the engine so that they can be correctly connected to the terminals 17 to 24 of the distributor head.

A slot 41 may be provided through the washerlike disk to the central aperture 42 thereof which receives the central high voltage terminal 43 of the head. The slot 41 passes over the Wire when disposed in the terminal 43 so that the wire need not be removed therefrom when the indicating disk is placed in position between the terminals 17 to 24. The slot permits the washerlike disk to be removed after all of the wires have been assembled in the terminals of the distributor head. However, since it is not too difficult to remove the high voltage wire from the terminal 43, the slot 41 may be omitted.

Additional disks 47 are illustrated in FIG. 4 having apertures 36 mounted on a chain 37. The disk 47 may be of smaller diameter than the disk 35 so as to have the peripheral edge substantially abutting the terminals 17 to 24 without having portions extending thereabout. The slots 41 may be provided through the disks to the central aperture 42, as pointed out above. Indicia may be provided on both sides of the disks 35 and 47 with indications for the make of automobile and the year model to which the disk applies. When the disks 47 are of a larger diameter they will rest upon the inner edge of the terminals 17 to 24. indicia are provided upon the front and preferably back faces of the disks for indicating the location of the wires from the spark plugs in the manner as pointed out hereinabove. A notch 48 is employed in the outer peripheral edge of the disk 47 which is used for locating the disk annularly to have each terminal disposed opposite to the letter and number which locate the wire from the particular spark plug relative to the terminal which is to be connected. Sufiicient length of chain is provided to permit any one of the disks to be separated from the others sufficiently to be placed adjacent to the terminals of the distributor. It is believed that eight or ten disks with the indicia on both faces would be required for gauging all of the V-block, 8-cylinder engines found in passenger cars which are operating today.

The disks fill a long-felt want in the automotive trade as a check of any engine can be made in an extremely short time by ascentaining how many cylinders the car has, whether the cylinders are inalilne or in a V arrangement, the name of the manufacturer and the year model. From this data the selected disk can be quickly applied to the distributor head and the spark plug wires checked without removing them from the terminals of the head. This is also true of the high voltage central wire when the slot 41 is provided through the disk to the central aperture thereof.

In FIG. a further form of the invention is illustrated, that wherein disks 51, which are similar to the disks 47, are provided with extending arms 52 having apertures in the outer ends through which a rivet 53 extends for maintaining the arms and disks in unit assembled relationship. Any one of the disks is free to be swung outwardly from the assembly so that it can be applied to the distributor head. It will be noted that the arms are marked to the left side, which indicates that the arm should point to the left-hand securing element 12 to have the spark plug locating indications disposed adjacent to the respective terminals 17 to v24.

While it has been indicated that the disks are employed for locating the ends of conductors from the spark plugs of automobile engines, it is to be understood that the same arrangement of disks with indicium and with and without locating means for orienting the datum relative to the points to be checked may be provided in like manner. In other words, the disks may be employed for showing the location of elements from one member relative to another which may vary from time to time in different combinations of members and elements to thereby provide an easy check to ascertain whether the correct relationship exists.

What is claimed is:

1. A disk having like opposite faces and a plurality of indicia on at least one face for indicating what conductors are to be connected to a plurality of terminals of a distributor cap, means on the disk by which it is located on said cap relative to the terminals thereof, means on said disk for indicating to what set of terminals the disk applies, and means securing a plurality of said disks together while permitting any disk to be moved from the others for locating the conductors.

2. A disk having like opposite faces and a plurality of indicia thereon for indicating what conductors are to be connected to a plurality of terminals of a distributor cap, means on the disk by which it is located on said cap relative to the terminals thereof, means on said disk for indicating to what set of terminals the disk applies, means securing a plurality of said disks together while permitting any disk to be moved from the others for locating the conductors, said means embodying an aperture through each disk, and means extending through the aperture for securing the arms in separable relation to each other.

3. A substantially fiat disk having a plurality of indicia thereon for indicating what conductors are to be "connected to a plurality of terminals of a distributor cap, means on the disk by which it is located on said cap relative to the terminals thereof, and means on said disk for indicating to what set of terminals the disk applies, said disk having a central aperture and a slot extending therefrom to the outer periphery. I

4. A set of substantially flat disks for locating the terminal ends of wires from the spark plugs of an automotive engine, the spark plugs being located by indicia which indicate the location of the cylinders of the engine, the disks having the cylinder locations applied thereto along with indications for designating the make of engine, and addi-' tional means on said disk whereby it may be located relative to an index point on the distributor head of the engine so that the indications are disposed adjacent to a terminal to which the end of the wire of the spark plug of the cylinder is to be connected which is accomplished while the head is in operative position.

5. A set of substantially flat disks for locating the terminal ends of wires from the spark plugs of an automotive engine, the spark plugs being located by indicia which indicate the location of the cylinders of the engine, the disks having the cylinder locations applied thereto along with indications for designating the make of engine, additional means on said disk whereby it may be located relative to an index point on the distributor head of the engine so that the indications are disposed adjacent to a terminal to which the end of the wire of the spark plug of the cylinder is to be connected, said disk-s having a central opening for receiving the central terminal on the distributor head, and a slot extending from the outer periphery to the opening to permit the wire to the central terminal to pass therethrough.

6. A set of substantially flat disks for locating the terminal ends of wires from the spark plugs of an automotive engine, the spark plugs being located by indicia which indicate the location of the cylinders of the engine, the disks having the cylinder locations applied thereto along with indications for designating the make of engine, additional means on said disk whereby it may be located relative to an index point on the distributor head of the engine so that the indications are disposed adjacent to a terminal to which the end of the wire of the spark plug of the cylinder is to be connected, said disks having a central opening for receiving the central terminal on the distributor head along with arcuate recesses in at least one peripheral edge matable with the other terminals.

7. A set of substantially fiat disks for locating the terminal ends of Wires from the spark plugs of an automotive engine, the spark plugs being located by indicia which indicate the location of the cylinders of the engine, the disks having the cylinder locations applied thereto along with indications for designating the make of engine and the year model to which it applies, additional means on said disk whereby it may be located relative to an index point on the distributor head of the engine so that the indications are disposed adjacent to a terminal to which the end of the Wire of the spark plug of the cylinder is to be connected, said disks having a central opening for receiving the central terminal on the distributor head along with arcuate recesses in at least one peripheral edge matable With the other terminals, and means for securing a plurality of the disks together in separable relationship to form a series for a plurality of engines of diiferent makes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,551,954 Hodg-art Sept. 1, 1925 1,772,829 Giampaoli Aug. 12, 1930 1,784,236 Jones Dec. 9, 1930 1,816,642 Fetter July 28, 1931 2,620,765 Worel Dec. 9, 1952 2,730,066 Gist Jan. 10, 1956 2,739,565 Hodges Nov. 27, 1956 

